The Elements
by SirenAlpha
Summary: It's common knowledge that most swordsmen are firebenders. Battousai was known to be a non-bender. Kenshin never bothered to challenge that assumption. ATLA!AU oneshot


I just got like this flash of an idea so I wanted to try it out. This is still in the RK universe, just that some characters have bending like there is in ATLA. These are a bunch of little scenes covering significant moments of the series so you'll probably need a good familiarity with the RK timeline to get it all. I would have liked to have done something a little more drawn out and go into how bending affects the philosophy of the characters and the series, but with other projects to work on this is what I had time for. It was also a lot of fun to go quickly through the series like this.

Please enjoy.

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><p>Firebenders find fame in war, especially those who live by the sword. Kenshin has never controlled flames for all his skill with a katana. Kenshin disappears at the war's end almost too easily.<p>

* * *

><p>Kenshin blinks a couple times at the palm sized burn on Hiruma Gohei's arm.<p>

"You're a firebender?" he asks as he walks with Kaoru back to her dojo.

"Yes," she admits, looking away from him. "Not very good for wooden swords, is it?"

* * *

><p>Kaoru almost laughs when Yahiko defiantly moves his arms down and bends the dirt from his skin.<p>

"That may be enough to get the dirt off, but it won't get rid of your smell."

* * *

><p>Sano sneezes during their first meal together and dishes fly everywhere.<p>

"Quite a powerful sneeze," Kenshin comments.

"Sorry, I never got any training for it."

"It explains the hair at least," Kaoru says, trying to flatten her own hair down again.

* * *

><p>For the first time in years, Kenshin draws upon his bending along a river bank to save a woman who had shown him more kindness than he deserved.<p>

"I never heard that you were a bender," Kaoru says, looking at him with a fading look of surprise as he binds Jin-e's hands while he's still unconscious.

"I never used my bending during the Bakumatsu," he responds.

"Not even to heal?"

"I never learned."

* * *

><p>"I thought air was supposed to be evasive," Megumi says as she eyes Sano's bruises.<p>

"I told you, no training,"

She looks at the other three that had helped to rescue her. "You all were cursed with the wrong bending."

"Not me," Yahiko says proudly.

* * *

><p>"Sorry," Kenshin says as Kaoru takes down the burned shoji on the dojo.<p>

"At least this time I wasn't the one that did it," she responds. "It's Saitou's fault."

* * *

><p>Kenshin leaves, and Kaoru doesn't wake at dawn. She cries over how her bending has left her too, cursing every time she'd wished it gone.<p>

* * *

><p>"Look, look, look," Sano says, throwing a fist and bending the air into a quick moving stream.<p>

"You were supposed to learn defense," Saitou retorts.

"I can dodge quicker."

Saitou throws a blast of flames in his direction. This time, Sano's hair doesn't catch fire.

* * *

><p>"We're at a waterfall, and you still refuse to bend," Hiko snaps. "You're not supposed to reject your bending any more than you're supposed to rely just on your blade."<p>

"I'm trying," Kenshin retorts.

"Not enough."

Hiko attacks, and Kenshin moves to block. The water responds, turning away Hiko's blade and soaking Kenshin entirely.

* * *

><p>Kaoru, for the first time in her life, leads with a small burst of flames. It burns a hole in the wings of the flying Juppongatana member, and he falls to the ground. She stares in shock over how well it had worked given how distant her bending still feels. Yahiko finishes with bending just enough earth over him to trap him. Kamatari takes a little more work.<p>

* * *

><p>Kenshin stares in open-mouthed horror as Shishio burns. Kaoru could have put out the flames in an instant. He can't even sense the nearest source of water.<p>

* * *

><p>"Can you try something for me?" Megumi asks when Kenshin is first able to sit up again.<p>

She sets a bowl of water down beside him, and he clenches his fists.

"It's supposed to come naturally, isn't it?"

"Yes, but I've never really tried it."

"Maybe just bend it to wherever hurts the worst."

He sighs and struggles to bend the water out of the bowl. He awkwardly forms it to fit against a pain in his side. He opens his mouth to say that it won't work, and the water begins to glow. He stares in wonder.

"There, now you've learned to heal."

* * *

><p>Kaoru breaths out with alcohol on her breath, and the heat of flames lick against her lips.<p>

"Whoa," Misao crows, far more drunk than Kaoru. "Do it again."

Kaoru draws up to her full height, breaths in deeply, and releases flames. Warmth floods her veins, and she feels powerful.

* * *

><p>Yahiko redesigns the Shirobeko's rock garden.<p>

"Are you getting bored?" Kaoru asks.

"No, I just wanted to practice more since it helped in the battle."

"Good idea," she says, tapping her chin. "You have gotten better at bending since we met."

He beams at her then returns his focus to moving the large rocks more precisely.

* * *

><p>On the boat ride back to Tokyo, Sano stands at the prow, feeling the air flow around him. He lets it wind through his fingers. He wonders what it would take to get it to lift him.<p>

* * *

><p>Kenshin stays on deck as much as he can, watching the waves as the boat moves through the water. He drinks in the feeling of having his element all around him. Yahiko breaks the calmness of the moment, vomiting over the railing again.<p>

* * *

><p>Kaoru says, "Welcome home."<p>

Kenshin feels the warmth in the words like sunlight on his skin.

* * *

><p>Kaoru wakes at dawn. She goes outside to greet the sun. She settles herself in its rays to perform her breathing exercises. She feels whole.<p>

* * *

><p>Sano tries to create a little whirlwind in his hand. Kaoru giggles and creates a flame over her palm. He studies the flames. He mimics her motion and creates a ball of air that rests in his hand for a few moments before dissipating. She grins back at him.<p>

* * *

><p>Kenshin looks about to check that no one is around. He carefully bends the water over the laundry. The water falls to the ground before even half the clothes are wet. He sighs and tries again.<p>

* * *

><p>Kaoru supervises the trip to the barren field where Sano had fought Kenshin. Yahiko bends a boulder out of the ground. When Yahiko tosses the boulder at him, Sano moves but it still hits his shoulder.<p>

"Why is this so hard? It's what I'm supposed to do," Sano complains.

"That's what happens when you reject it for so long," Yahiko shoots back.

Sano frowns and focuses more.

* * *

><p>Sano learns to run with the wind as he chases after Kenshin up to the summit of Mt. Ueno.<p>

* * *

><p>Kaoru looks at the sight of Akabeko's ruin. She wonders how she didn't sense the fire of the blast.<p>

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><p>Sano swears that his bending saves him against Inui's gauntlets. He avoids all of his punches by the smallest of measures. He leaps over the other fist fighter and lands behind him. Inui doesn't move nearly fast enough, and Sano gets in his first hit.<p>

* * *

><p>Kenshin stops at the sight of the well on the way to his room. He feels every bit of dirt, ash, sweat, and blood on his skin. He bends the water out of the well and washes it over himself. His desire to vomit lessens, but it doesn't save him from his nightmare of Tomoe.<p>

* * *

><p>Kaoru listens to Kenshin's story, providing him with the support he needs to tell it. She teaches the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu succession technique for Yahiko's sake. She blasts streams of fire so Sano can dodge something much faster than a boulder. For herself, she practices the firebending katas she hadn't performed in years. Something still prevents her from reaching full strength.<p>

* * *

><p>Yahiko senses the steps of the one armed man, suddenly seeing beyond the dojo walls to where his feet hit the earth. "They're here!" he shouts to everyone.<p>

"Did you see them?" Sano asks.

"Sort of."

* * *

><p>Sano dodges Inui's punches with ease. Somehow, ten days had been enough.<p>

* * *

><p>When the assassin shoots flames at Yahiko, Kaoru moves between him and her student. Her flames had never burned brighter.<p>

* * *

><p>Kenshin startles when blood responds to the swing of his sakabato. It gives him an opening, but not enough of one.<p>

* * *

><p>Sano blows away the smoke only to see Enishi grab Kaoru and disappear into the dojo. He watches Kenshin sob and fall apart at the sight of her body and regrets having done it.<p>

* * *

><p>Kenshin sits without seeing or hearing, but still feeling. He grits his teeth against the pull of his bending.<p>

* * *

><p>Sano runs away, seemingly holding true to his type of bending's nature.<p>

* * *

><p>Yahiko stays. He splits the earth, but it doesn't bring back Karou.<p>

* * *

><p>Megumi sighs in relief when Kenshin finally comes back into the clinic. She chides Yahiko for his stubbornness against an enemy too great for him while he still sleeps. She waits for the wind to change and for Sano to return.<p>

* * *

><p>Kaoru watches the flames she cradles in her palm flicker with an unusual color. Her bending no longer seems ill suited for wooden swords, and it makes her burn all the brighter. She bides her time with breathing exercises.<p>

* * *

><p>When Kenshin finds Enishi again, he bears the ocean down upon him. It's a man with a gun who nearly kills him, and Kaoru who saves them.<p>

* * *

><p>Megumi tells them, "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu will become ineffective in four or five years."<p>

"And my bending?" Kenshin asks.

"There's no reason that shouldn't remain effective."

Kenshin only feels relief.

* * *

><p>Megumi hands Kaoru a medicine chest before leaving. "In case Kenshin needs more than his own bending."<p>

She pauses when Kaoru ducks her head.

"It's not forever. Aizu isn't so far away. You can visit her whenever you like," Sano says, placing a hand on Kaoru's head.

Megumi leaves without looking back.

* * *

><p>Sano stands in a boat when they see him again. He announces, "I think I should go see the world."<p>

He tells Kaoru to have kids with Kenshin. He gives Yahiko his old place. He slaps hands with Kenshin.

He leaves on a little boat with the wind driving him forward and only a promise to visit.

* * *

><p>Four years later, Kaoru referees for a one hit battle between Kenshin and Yahiko. It ends with Kenshin handing down the sakabato to Yahiko.<p>

"It's heavy," Yahiko says, staring at the weapon.

"It will be for some time," Kenshin responds with a nod. "Use it as you see fit, and someday, exceed me."

Yahiko nods and leaves with the firm steps of a fully realized earthbender.

* * *

><p>Kenji bends a spark and runs to his mother. Kenshin looks to Kaoru.<p>

"Don't worry," she responds. "He'll know fire is life."

She creates fire in her palm, and Kenji plays with the flames.

Kenshin relaxes.

* * *

><p>So yeah, that's pretty much it. Maybe someday I'll get around to expanding this some.<p>

Please review!


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